Writing

This is going to be lengthy and probably poorly flowing, I understand if your attention span doesn’t make it past the end of the next sentence.

Ponies.

…that was a joke.

It’s interesting the thoughts people have on the new media. It’s also interesting they call it new media. Really, writing hasn’t changed all that much and Facebook and Twitter and all of these “new medias” are really just old media in a new medium and even then, not really. It’s still black text on a white page – although the white glows more nowadays.

But it’s interesting for me as someone who has grown up on the wave of all of this. I wasn’t quite young enough to grow up beside it, but I’m not old enough to remember times before it. I didn’t have a cell phone until a few years ago, and now you see pre-teens texting so I am older than that generation (not in the offspring sense as much as the 2.0 sense) of people. It’s funny that I watch old movies and see the typical teenage girl laying on her bed with her own phone talking for hours while not moving at all. As far as I’m concerned, I’d say mobile inter-connectivity is better for us. This past week I’ve logged at very least 50 km walking / longboarding and enjoyed hours of beautiful spring-summer sun and fresh air, while never missing a beat with my friends if I was so inclined to include them in my adventure. I spent several hours in solitude, both physically and electronically as well, because that’s why I go out and explore; I really enjoy solitude.

I think people have it wrong, overall. I think they see the medium as the solution, be it good or bad, and I’m not sure any of that school of thought is correct. The stereotypical old people see it as this looming evil, standing over the world like a physical monster, devouring children. The stereotypical child is a happy king, seeing a world of information brought to them at the swipe of a finger. The stereotypical school board sees it as this overwhelming distraction and problem, and instead of admitting that the entire recorded history of the entire planet can be browsed within milliseconds they want to steamroll the same old same old lecturing techniques and call the students the problem.

I would suggest contrary. I would suggest that in fact it is a tool. Facebook is a tool, Twitter is a tool. They can be time sinks, perhaps, but so is sharpening a saw. In the end, they do a particular job that not much else in the world can. I won’t say it’s good or evil, I’m not fighting for the kids or the seniors because honestly, I don’t believe there deserves a fight at all. To do so would be like fighting over said saw: perhaps people have been killed by them. True. Perhaps they’ve done an excellent job cutting down trees to build houses. True. Perhaps cutting down trees with your bare hands is a ridiculous waste of time and needs to be updated. Humans need tools. Ultimately, it’s a little part of why we’re human in the first place.

This relates directly to brands:

Apple vs. Microsoft.

I say: Who cares?

They too are tools. They do different things. You can fight saw vs. axe all day (I guess the metaphor is sticking) but ultimately they’re just tools designed to do slightly different things. There is no right or wrong, there is no winner or loser or better or worse. Pick the one that does the job you need to do best. Duh!

Also: Sports teams. An even more useless battle because they don’t even accomplish anything.

Moral of the story, before this turns into a grand mal rant: Everything is a tool, stop fighting over trivialities and use the one that makes sense. Don’t judge others for the tool they use, natural selection should take care of that.